Κική Νικηφορίδου
Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνώνου Πατρών
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A well-studied topic in Greek grammar, Modern Greek που functions mainly (not only) as a relativizer (Είδα και τον Πρόεδρο που είχε ασπρίσει εντελώς), complementizer (Ξέχασες που πέσαμε πάνω τους κι έγινε χαμός;) and adverbial connective (Έκλαψε που την είδε). Each of these functions has given rise to important work, which can be roughly categorized into two distinct trends: studies that focus on one or the other of the syntactic functions, treating them as separate and unrelated, and studies that acknowledge the existence of a relationship even if the type of relationship proposed is (radically) different. Drawing on both synchronic variation and diachronic developments, I suggest that a constructional analysis of the main syntactic functions of που captures insights from both trends in the earlier literature. In particular, the possibility of linking meaning directly to syntactic form in terms of constructions (the basic premise of Construction Grammar) allows for determining formal and semantic/pragmatic features that are mutually dependent and crucial in connecting the various uses. By tolerating redundancy and recognizing frequency-based entrenchment, a constructional approach further allows for identifying privileged and prototypical instances of each use (e.g. θυμάμαι που in complementation) in terms of lexically-filled subpatterns of a schematic construction. The study of που offers, therefore, both familiar and new ground for addressing a challenging chapter in Greek linguistics and extending existing work in new directions.